At this point you really wondered what Laios could do against Sissel & his horde of dragons. Though this is the best example of showing where Laios’s love of monsters is beneficial. As he knows the special characteristics of each of the dragons. For instance, he could use the Ice Dragon for a shield from the poison. Much like many times through this series, we see Laios wanting to share a meal with Sissel to get to him. This worked so many times in the past, even with his former party members. But this is where Laios’s lack of awareness bites him in the ass. As Sissel’s reputation as the Lunatic Magician is fully shown.
It comes as a stroke of luck that the Winged Lion can land a mark on Sissel. Though in reality this shows how dangerous these demons are. It takes just one moment, but eating all of Sissel’s desires breaks him. Sadly, it is not like the gang has much of a choice if they want to save Falin. Though the threat of the Winged Lion can’t be understated. Still, it was Sissel who revived Mariclle it seems. Curious if that was his last intention.
The party does get one meal before Kabru and the canaries come to their location. Sadly for Kabru, dealing with the Western Elves alongside Laios’s group is basically a mission impossible. What seems to be some “black magic” is, well, here it’s hypnosis magic, which gets Laios to admit everything. Well, basically Kabru enters his worst-case scenario. To add even more damage, Mithrun finds where Marcille is and brings her out.
We just learned that Marcille is a half-elf, and here we see the problems she gets plagued with. Non-elves would look at Marcille as one would see an elf. But at the same time all the Western Elves give her disdain. The ironic part is that the wish that Marcille wants—all living forms having the elves lifespan—is far from what her dream is. I can imagine for many they would HAVE WANTED to become a full elf in the past. That prejudice they have towards Marcille is precisely what pushes her to unlock the Winged Lion and become the new Lord of the Dungeon. In many ways you can’t blame Marcille for doing this because it was clear the Western Elves were simply going to do things their way one way or another. Marcille hasn’t given up yet on this journey, and there should be no surprise she still fights on.
In fact, the power of being a Lord of the Dungeon has Marcille taking care of the Western Elves. At least Marcille is safe. Though at this point this is where Laios instincts really shine. He can tell the dungeon is now softer, showing the mental state of Marcille vs. Sissel. As the former is more scared at this point, while the latter was mentally insane. It is worrying if Marcille eventually could be like Sissel. Laios knows Marcille needs her.
For the first time, Kabru is honest with Laios and Laios can pick up things quickly. At some point his lies finally stopped working on Laios. Though it is that honesty that Laios is happy with. Truth be told, there is a fondness that Kabru has for Laios that he knows that Laios could meet his death. No surprise Laios won’t abandon Marcille especially considering that he saw her nightmares.